Railway-switch heater



W. T. LAWLOR.

RAILWAY SWITCH HEATER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 3. 1919.

Patented J an. 6, 1920.

Arm/Mrs WITNESSES MJ D WILLIAM TALBOT LAWLOR, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

RAILWAY-SWITCH HEATER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 6, 1920.

Application filed May 3, 1919. Serial No. 294,602.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM T. LAWLOR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Railway-Switch Heater, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to rail-way track equipment, and has particular reference to devices of the general character set forth in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,281,797, issued to me on the 15th day of October, 1918, said Letters Patent covering devices for the prevention of delays in the running of trains because of deep snow storms or blizzards interfering with the proper manipulation of the switches.

Vhereas in the practice of railway tracks it is of paramount importance that for the maintenance of established railway schedule the switches be kept in such condition that any one or more of a large number of such devices within command of a switch-man in a tower or otherwise must be kept free from snow and ice so that they may be shifted freely and fully at any time, it follows that in order to maintain the switch equipment in operative condition the rails or switch points should be kept warm enough to prevent the accumulation of snow or ice thereon or sufiiciently near thereto to prevent the free movement of the movable parts. More over it is of secondary though great importance that none of the rails or points should become so overheated as to draw the temper thereof, for if the rails be overheated and then subjected to a chilling action of the weather great damage is done to the structure or texture of the steel.

One of the principal objects of my in vention therefore, distinguishing it from my previous invention and other devices heretofore proposed for a similar purpose, is to provide a means whereby the movable switch points and rails adjacent thereto may be kept warmed more or less constantly during the prevalence of a blizzard or deep snow storm as to keep the said parts free from snow but without over-heating or occasioning the waste of fuel.

A still further object of this present improvement is to provide a novel shape of pan or receptacle for holding' a quantity of fuel such as oil between adjacent ties and beneath the switch rails, the receptacle being so constructed that the oil maybe sent thereto and retained therein in burning condition and even in small quantities while'a train may be running over the track.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a fragment of a railway switch and adjacent parts showing my improvement adapted for the heating of the movable and adjacent rails.

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring more specifically to the drawings I show a conventional arrangement of cross ties 10' spaced from one another and upon which the stock rail 11, switch rail 12, and movable switch points 13 and 1 1 are supported in any well known or approved manner. I

15 indicates a reservoir adapted to con tain any suitable supply of liquid fuel such as crude oil or the like, the same being adapted to be conveyed to and along the switch mechanism by means of a transverse pipe 16 and parallel longitudinal pipes 17 and 18., shown as supported upon the end portions of the cross ties on opposite sides of the railway rails. These longitudinal pipes may be secured in a fixed position with respect to the rails by means of clips 19 fixed to certain of the ties.

The improved pan or receptacle for the liquid fuel is shown as a whole at 20 and comprises a semi-cylindrical body 21 having a rounded bottom and vertical end walls 22, shown as rectangular in form and having their lower edges 22 lying in the same horizontal plane and serving as means to support the pan firmly upon the ballast 23 below and between the ties. Thus it will be seen thatthe end walls 22 not only serve to close the receptacle body at the ends but constitute downward extensions below the rounded convex bottom of the pan. One side of the pan body is provided with a nipple 241 having a port 25 opening into the hollow interior of the pan along which the liquid fuel may be caused to drip or pour from a tube 26 leading from one of the side pipes 17, the quantity of the oil delivered being regulatable delicately by the adjustment of a valve 27 seated in each of the tubes 26. Obviously any or all of the pipes above referred to may be provided with valves or stop cocks for controlling the flow of oil therethrough. The tube 26 may be bendable in the fitting of the devices to the switch apparatus so as to position the pans properly beneath the switch points, but after being so positioned said tubes are stifi enough to hold the pans in the desired adjustment so that while the workmenmay be engaged in working around or along the switches with brooms, shovels or the like no material disturbance of said adjustment will result.

I wish to point out at this time with particularity that the ends of each pan are provided with horizontal lips or guards 28 each of which constitutes an extension of the adjacent end wall 2:2 and directed toward the opposite end of the pan in a plane coinciding with the upper edge of the pan. The pans in accordance with the design set forth may be made in any suitable manner such as die-casting, sheet-metal. stamped, or as ordinary castings, whichever may be found most desirable or efiicient in practice.

Among the purposes for the horizontal lips 28 are first, the provision of means to prevent the suction or air pressure incident to a train running over the track causing the sweeping of the oil from the pan, and secondly, to prevent the rush of a train over the pans from extinguishing the flame of the burning oil while so passing.

M experience as a practical railroad operator establishes the fact that three or four men are suliicient to keep a large number of switch points in perfect workin g conditions under the most trying blizzard conditions for an indefinite length of time that would require at least one hundred fifty men to keep clear under the old and connnon practice. In the practice of this invention a trackman or switch-tender may cause the oil to flow into and along the longitudinal pipes 17 throughout any number of switches and from the same supply reservoir 15. He will then pass along the track and with a wrench or other tool applied to the valves 2'? will open them or as many of them as he considers necessary for the delivery of a regulated amount of oil into any or all of the pans 20 and then he will set fire to the oil so delivered. As above indicated it is not necessary in the equipment of this char acter to supply much oil at any time to the pans and yet insure a continuous flame therefrom, and which flame will not be eX- tinguished by the wind or other elements, or the passage of a train thereover. It follows therefore that the oil will not be wasted for there will be no necessity for the filling or over-flowing of a pan. l Vhen the occasion for the heat will have passed the flow of oil will be cut ofi at the valves 27 and the flame of course will die out as a consequence.

I claim:

1. 1111 a heating device for railway switches the combination with asystem of pipes, a reservoir from which said pipes are adapted to convey fluid fuel, and means to regulate the flow of the fuel along the pipes, of a plurality of open topped receptacles located beneath the rails and having communication with said pipes for the delivery of fuel into the receptacles, each receptacle being arranged longitudinally of the rails and being provided with means at its ends to prevent the blowing of the fuel therefrom. l

2. In railway switch heating equipment, the combination with spaced cross ties, railway and switch rails supported thereon, and means to convey fluid fuel along the rails, of a system of open topped receptacles each of semi-cylindrical form arranged longitudinally between adjacent ties and beneath the rails adjacent, each receptacle having rectangular end panels servingas rigid sup ports for the pan, and each of the end panels terminating in its upper end in a lip projecting horizontally toward the opposite end anc serving as a battle to preventthe blowing out of the fuel or flame by the wind or the passin train.

v L I: i l 'l 'bdt-ll t o. as ierein cescri e lac: iea ing 1e ceptacle comprising an open topped body having closed sides and ends, said ends each 1 having a lip extending horizontally from its upper edge toward the opposite end lying essentially in a plane coinciding with the upper edges of the sides.

vVlLLlAh l TALBOT LAWLOR. 

